The Goldworthington Mansion Mystery
by grumpyheroine
Summary: Off to an old mansion for a nice weekend, Lois and Clark find there's more to just the party they thought they were coming for. They find themselves investigating a series of murders happening at the mansion, and things get even worse when they realize the murderer might be after Clark next.
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE:**

Clark Kent stepped into the Kent house, closing the door behind him, and pushed his hood back.

"Hey Smallville!" said a cheerful voice.

Clark shook his head back and forth like a dog, black hair spraying water all over the place, including on his visitor. His coat was grabbed out of his hands.

"Hey, stop that!" Lois Lane complained. "You're getting me wet!"

"Lois? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I can't come by to say hello to a friend?"

"There's a blizzard outside..." Clark said.

"I got here before the blizzard," Lois replied with a grin.

"I'm a bit wet," Clark said. "Do you mind if I go upstairs to change?"

"Sure," said Lois, heading towards the kitchen and dumping Clark's coat unceremoniously on the floor. Clark rolled his eyes and lifted it up, hanging it in a closet before speeding upstairs when he was sure Lois wasn't looking.

A few minutes later, he was back on the first floor, in dry clothes, and found Lois still in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Two empty mugs were on the counter, and Lois was studying a sheet of paper.

"What's that?" asked Clark, looking at the empty envelope on the table and offering Lois the towel. She made no more to take it though, too engrossed in her reading.

"Letter I found in the doorway," she said absently in answer to Clark's question.

He frowned. "You're reading my mail?" he questioned, feeling irritation he often felt toward Lois growing in his stomach.

"Just this... it had this cool family insignia thing on it and looked really official, I was curious," Lois defended herself.

"Your curiosity is going to kill you at some point, Lois," Clark said, shaking his head as he leaned forward and plucked the letter out of her hand, reading it himself.

_To Mr. Clark Kent,_

_You are cordially invited to the Goldworthington Mansion to attend a party in celebration on the opening of the mansion, in honor of the memory of the host Herod Goldworthington II's late father. The mansion was brought stone to stone from Ireland, and on this date Mr. Goldworthington will be celebrating its completion.  
_

_You are allowed to bring one guest along with you, and you are to arrive on the 20th of December between the hours of 03:PM to 05:00PM. The celebrations will last through the weekend, and you will be provided with sleeping quarters._

_Please send a response to this letter by the 18th of December of whether you will be attending and whom your are bringing._

_Hoping to have the honor of your presence,_

_Herod Goldworthington II_

Clark set the paper down on the table, glancing at Lois.

"You read my mail," he stated, still feeling angry.

She was bouncing excitedly in her seat though. "Forget about that, Smallville! We're going to Goldworthington Mansion! I've heard of the man. He's some rich billionaire, even richer than the Luthors. His mansion was brought straight from England, which is where he originated, and it..."

Clark tuned out Lois's rambling, examining the strange seal at the bottom of the letter. Something about it looked suspicious...

"Lois," he said suddenly, cutting her off. "I'm not going."

Her face fell. "Why not?"

He sighed. "I don't even know who this Goldworthington guy is, or how he knows who _I_ am."

"Who cares?" said Lois. "This is still so cool! You should go... and take me with! There's something fishy about him after he seemed to make a huge profit off a company and it went broke last month when-"

"What?" said Clark, suddenly looking closely at his friend. Lois looked startled.

"What, what?" she said, puzzled.

"You think Goldworthington is behind some crime or something?"

Lois nodded eagerly. "If we could find out what he's doing, it would definitely get me a front page at the Daily Planet!"

Clark shook his head. "Lois..."

"Fine, us, can't we _please_ go?"

Clark groaned inwardly. Once Lois made up her mind, it was almost impossible to change it. Still, he didn't know who this Goldworthington man was. He was intending on going, but he would have preferred to go on his own in case something bad happened.

"I really don't think it would be a good idea..." Clark started, and saw Lois's expression. He knew it was a losing battle. She had already started trying to convince him again when he was spacing out.

"Fine!" he said, throwing up his hands in defeat. "We'll go."

Lois beamed. "Thanks, Smallville!"

"Now, do you want to explain what you're doing here?"

"Nope," Lois sang out, and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Wouldn't it be better to wait out the storm?"

"Oh. Right. I suppose." Lois plopped back onto the couch, and started flipping through TV channels.

Clark sat next to her and let out an exasperated sigh, trying to convince himself the bitter taste in his mouth about this party was unnecessary worrying.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of the bad feeling about this weekend.

_To be continued..._

**So, this is the prologue, which is why it's so short. Hopefully the next chapters will be longer and better. This is my first Smallville story, I'm doing my best, but I don't know if I will be able to get the characters right. If there's any constructive criticism, feel free to toss it out!**

**Also, don't forget to review! Reviews are awesome! **

**Next time, Chapter One is out! They arrive at the mansion, and the mystery begins...**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER ONE:**

Lois Lane walked quickly toward the front doors of the mansion, snow crunching under her boots. A few yards away, Clark Kent was struggling to carry Lois's luggage, as well as his duffel bag. It wasn't that it was too heavy for him, being the all-powerful very strong Kryptonian, but he was having trouble finding a comfortable position to carry the luggage, not to mention keeping up the illusion that it was a burden.

"Clark, hurry up!" called Lois. Clark let out a small grunt, and made his way over to the impatient brunette.

He looked around as he walked, taking in his surroundings. The Goldworthington mansion was Victorian England style, made of brown bricks, four stories high, and very wide. It reminded Clark of the Luthor mansion, but not by much. Tall windows lined the sides of the building, and ivy adorned the exterior walls of the house, causing the mansion to give up off a strange vibe.

The double front doors were massive and thrown wide open. A middle aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a tuxedo resembling that of a butler approached Clark, hopefully to help him carry his luggage. Clark felt he must look ridiculous trying to lug everything around.

Sure enough, after he introduced himself as Mr. Goldworthington's butler, Horace, offered to take Lois's suitcase. "At your own risk," Clark replied cheerfully. Horace didn't seem amused. He seemed even less amused when he realized how heavy Lois's suitcase was and that Clark's comment, although offered as a joke, might have some truth to it.

Clark looked around as they finished the walk to the mansion doorway along the huge driveway.

"Is that a maze?" The young reporter asked curiously, gesturing towards what appeared to be the entrance of an enormous hedge maze.

'Ah, Yes," Horace replied. "Mr. Goldworthington had it installed recently. I wouldn't venture into it, though. It can be quite confusing. You would probably lose your way."

"Fascinating," said Lois, who'd just walked up to them. Clark withheld a sigh, he recognized that expression. Despite Horace's warning (which had almost sounded like a threat), Lois was already planning on going into the maze, no doubt, and knowing her, she'd probably get herself lost within the hour.

They stepped through the doorway, into a huge hallway. The floor was carpeted, and a massive staircase stood at the end of the hall, two suits of armor guarding each side. There were doors to other rooms, but most were closed, save one, which appeared to be where all the guests that had arrived were currently lounging around.

"I'll take your bags to your rooms," Horace said. "You're welcome to mingle with the guests in the parlor."

Lois and Clark exchanged looks, before walking into the parlor. Like the rest of the house, it was large, with comfortable looking sofas and cushioned chairs surrounding a roaring fireplace. Several people were seated, drinking from mugs or glasses.

Horace left them to socialize, so Clark stood rather awkwardly in the corner as Lois headed off to start chatting.

The first person was an elderly white-haired man, tall and muscular, in very good shape for his age. He introduced himself as Major Frederick Patterson, a retired military man. Having grown up in army bases, Lois immediately got into an easy conversation with him, though he seemed rather gruff.

"An excellent evening," said the major, lighting a cigar. "And where are you two from?"

"Smallville," Clark replied.

"I'm not," said Lois. "I just live there at the moment."

Major Patterson looked a little confused, but just nodded. "I was in Smallville once in my early days. Quiet little town."

"Very quiet," Lois agreed. Clark rolled his eyes.

After talking with the Major a bit more, they moved on to another man named Denton.

"_Sir_ Denton III," he said.

"Nice to meet you," Clark said politely. Lois had wandered off, leaving Clark to talk to Denton.

"Hello!" said a loud, enthusiastic British-accented voice. Lois looked up to find herself facing a tall skinny man with wild spiky brown hair, grinning from ear to ear.

Lois smiled back. "Hi," she replied cheerfully, holding out her hand to shake his. "I'm Lois. Lois Lane," she introduced herself in typical Lois fashion, with the professional-tone and a confident smile.

The man smiled. "John Smith," he replied, shaking her hand.

_To be Continued..._


End file.
